Bob Reimer
02-28-2008, 01:00 AM
Some of my friends from the Emirates Natural History Group and I were showing a visiting entomologist from the British Museum of Natural History around the area yesterday. While we were in one of the oasis (actually the next block diagonally from where I live), I noticed a bunch of Trithemis annulata males chasing each other around the falaj (irrigation channel). About 20 metres away, at least six females were sunning themselves on a young date palm tree and occasionally making brief flights to capture passing midges. This is one of the females taken just before sunset.
I've been experimenting to see what difference opening up, going with less DOF but a faster shutter speed makes in my macros. I think this one is pretty sharp although I didn't get quite positioned perfectly parallel to the body. I'm enjoying the new D300's AF system though of being able to select a point other than the centre to focus on reducing the need to focus and recompose.
D-300, 80-400 VR at 195mm with Canon 500D close up diopter, Aperture priority -.33 EV Matrix metering, ISO 400, f 5.6, 1/640 sec, Neutral picture control. Processed with DxO Optics 5.04, -1.3EV, as shot except for Smart Vibrancy. Cropped.
I've been experimenting to see what difference opening up, going with less DOF but a faster shutter speed makes in my macros. I think this one is pretty sharp although I didn't get quite positioned perfectly parallel to the body. I'm enjoying the new D300's AF system though of being able to select a point other than the centre to focus on reducing the need to focus and recompose.
D-300, 80-400 VR at 195mm with Canon 500D close up diopter, Aperture priority -.33 EV Matrix metering, ISO 400, f 5.6, 1/640 sec, Neutral picture control. Processed with DxO Optics 5.04, -1.3EV, as shot except for Smart Vibrancy. Cropped.